It’s finally here.
The menial task of the regular season is over and the Celtics can now focus on preparing for the playoffs. They had to get through 82 games in order to play between 16-28 games this spring, and they're happy to begin this process.
“To put ourselves in this position: win 60 games, get a good seed and now that this is here, now I can kind of put my eyes on it and take it a step at a time,” Al Horford said. “You never want to look too far ahead and worry about things that aren’t here yet. Nothing is guaranteed and today was a good start for us. We had a good practice and we have to continue to build that as the week goes on.”
Unlike last year, the Celtics know more of what’s in front of them. The familiarity can act as a guide now they know what it’s like to win it all. At the same time, the downside to familiarity is letting one’s guard down too much. It’s rarely the punch a fighter expects that knocks them out.
“You don't really know what's good or bad for you until you go through it,” Joe Mazzulla said. “Just having the perspective of, it can go either way. It could be good for you; it could be bad for you. It all depends on your perspective and kind of how you handle that. Really, that's the most important thing, is taking the experiences that you have and handling them the right way."
Mazzulla preaches consistency as preparation for the unexpected. The Celtics feel like they’ve run enough different lineups out there this season and played enough different ways that they can wait on a curve ball and drive it.
“I think it goes back to what wins in the preseason, what wins in the regular season, playoffs, it's all the same stuff,” Mazzulla said. “It's just the level of mentality that you do it with and the discipline and the focus and the detail that you have on that.”
That's not to say that there aren’t game plans. Each team presents unique challenges. But the biggest challenge for Boston in this early round lies within themselves. Yes, they have to understand the game plan going in and make adjustments along the way, but the easiest way to breeze through the first round is to do what they do best and let the opponent figure out the adjustments.
“I think it's mentally being prepared,” Jrue Holiday said. “Getting your mental right, sleep and hydration, so that means physically being prepared as well and doing whatever you can to get in here. Obviously we won't play for about a week, but get in here and be ready for that first game to hit the floor running.”
FIRST ROUND MEH-THCHUP
The Celtics are about as thrilled to figure out their first-round opponent as you are with that headline I just wrote. It’s okay, both suck.
When asked about whether the team would be watching tonight’s game between Orlando and Atlanta together as they prepare for the matchup, Mazzulla flatly said “no.”
Holiday was asked if he’d watch it and said “Depends on what my kids want to do. If they want to watch the game then we’ll watch but they probably won’t. I’ll probably catch a glimpse of it.”
Horford said “I’m supposed to go to the Bruins game, so we’ll see. I’ll definitely keep track of it and then I’ll probably watch it at some point and kind of go from there. Yeah, just kind of wait and see what happens.”
Can you FEEL THE EXCITEMENT BREWING?!?!
JAYLEN BROWN PRACTICES
Everyone went through practice on Tuesday, including Brown, who missed the last three games of the regular season to rest his ailing right knee.
“He looked great today. I was very happy to see him out there doing everything,” Horford said. “It's a really good sign for us.
Brown recently received injections in his knee as part of his plan to return to the court. Before that, Brown said he was using the end of the regular season to adjust his game as necessary to make sure he’s as effective as possible even if he isn’t 100%.
“Jaylen is very strong mentally,” Horford said. “I feel like he finds a way. He's the type where he's out here, putting in the work and trying to get himself ready to go. He understands what's in front of us. I know that, mentally, he's going to be in a good place. I'm just excited to see him go from this point forward."
Brown did some light shooting after practice and it’s unclear how hard the practice was today, so we don’t know exactly what Brown did. But the important thing is that he was out there.
“He looked good to me,” Holiday said. “I think JB is going to be JB in terms of not showing weakness. Everything is about not showing weakness and for him being able to be the strongest mentally and physically. Nobody is worried about him. We all know that he wants to be on the court every time every time we play, but we also know he's going to be prepared.”
HOLIDAY GIVES US THE FINGER ... UPDATE
Brown wasn’t the only player who made some progress with an injury. He had the cast removed from his right pinky finger, holding it up for the media at his post-practice scrum.
“See that? See that? It’s kinda ugly but yeah, it’s good,” he said, revealing the finger, now with only a light wrap. “I get to move my finger. It feels kinda weird. I haven’t moved it in like six weeks, that knuckle part. But it seems like it’s all right.”
As nice at is for Holiday to move the finger for the first time in more than a month, the healing process isn’t over yet. Holiday says it’s possible the wrap will come off completely at some point during the playoffs, but for now he’ll still to wear it during games.
“I still have to play in it, so hopefully the good shooting keeps happening,” Holiday said. “But I think it’s about adjusting, being as adaptable as possible. And I think luckily it was on my pinky finger where, if you’re a shooter, I think these three (other) fingers are the most important. But yeah, we’ll figure it out.”
BEAL, BUD, AND A COMPARISON TO JRUE HOLIDAY
The internet buzz on Monday following the firing of Mike Budenholzer in Phoenix was Bud’s plea to Bradley Beal to be the Suns’ Jrue Holiday. Beal took exception to that, according to Chris Haynes, who reported “It wasn’t well-received.”
That drew a lot of reaction on social media. Holiday, though, isn’t a social media guy.
“This is the first time I’m hearing about it,” he said. “I think me and Brad are different players. And I also don’t know what he meant by saying that. But we are different players. Brad is an elite scorer and he’s had somewhat of an off year. So I feel like just things are different. It’s tough to go from where he was, somewhere like in Washington, and then kind of experience the experience that he’s been going through. I just don’t know why people gotta bring me into it. Let me just do me, go out here and try to win as many rings as I can.”
My take: I don’t think Budenholzer was trying to get Beal to play exactly like Holiday. I think he wanted to Beal to be the selfless one who sacrificed and did other things. Holiday made adjustments to his game and it helped Milwaukee and Boston win titles. We can go back to the Ray Allen trade and how he had to adjust with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Without Holiday and Allen sacrificing, none of those situations would have worked out.
Beal took it the way he took it and the whole thing has fallen apart in Phoenix. If anything it just goes to show how important it is for someone in a situation like this to take a step back and how damaging it gets if no one does.